


Strangers In The Night

by the_technicolor_whiscash



Series: The 1930's Detective Chronicles [1]
Category: The Mentalist
Genre: 1930's Detective AU, F/M, I know it sounds weird but just stay with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-16 15:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8107792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_technicolor_whiscash/pseuds/the_technicolor_whiscash
Summary: Teresa Lisbon is a private detective in California in the 1930's. Grace Van Pelt is desparately looking for her fiancé, Wayne Rigsby. She hires Lisbon, without mentioning that she hired a second detective: Patrick Jane, consulting detective.





	1. The Client

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not gonna lie I got this idea from a snapchat filter that made you look like you were in a black and white film

Detective Teresa Lisbon sat at her desk, jotting down notes. It had been a slow week at the agency, and she was hoping for someone, anyone, to come in with a problem.  
Just then, a woman walked into her office. She was tall, in a light pink dress, with straight reddish-brown hair and a face that was soft, but Lisbon could tell that the woman could handle herself.  
"Excuse me, could you tell me where Detective Lisbon might be?" The woman said.  
"You're looking at her." Lisbon replied, standing up and holding out a hand.  
"Really?" The woman raised an eyebrow before shaking Lisbon's outstretched hand. "My name's Grace Van Pelt." She paused. "I didn't expect you to be a woman."  
"Not many people do." Lisbon smirked. She had lost many customers simply because some people didn't believe that a woman could be a detective. Lisbon motioned for Grace to sit in the seat in front of her desk. "So what brings you here?"  
"Well, I haven't been able to find my fiancé." Grace smoothed out her dress, collecting her thoughts. "I'm worried about him. He's been gone for three days, and he never leaves for this long."  
Lisbon pulled a pen and a pad of paper out of her desk. "So you last saw him when? Saturday?"  
"Yes. Saturday. We were in the middle of dinner, and all of a sudden he got a call asking him to come into work. He's a police officer." Grace was starting to get distraught. Clearly her fiancé meant a lot to her.  
"And what's his name?" Lisbon asked.  
"Wayne. Wayne Rigsby." Grace paused. "And before you ask, I know he didn't run off with another woman. Wayne would never leave me."  
Lisbon nodded. That was the first solution to cross her mind, that he had just run off with another woman, leaving poor Grace to rot. But she wouldn't tell Grace that.  
"Did your fiancé appear to have any enemies? Anyone who might've had a vendetta against him?" Lisbon figured if the 'running off with another woman' angle didn't work, then it was probably one of the guy's enemies. He was a police officer, after all.  
"No, I don't think so..." Grace trailed off, thinking for a moment. "Wait, there was one man, Craig O'Laughlin. He was my fiancé a few years back, but we sort of had a... falling out."  
Lisbon scratched the name onto her notepad. The name rung a bell, but she couldn't quite tell why. "Alright, Miss Van Pelt. I'll look into this angle."  
Grace looked relieved that Lisbon had agreed to help. "Thank you, Detective Lisbon. You don't know how much this means to me."  
"Sure thing, miss." Lisbon stood up and held out her hand. "I'll mail you the bill."  
Grace nodded. "I'll pay anything, Detective. Just find my fiancé."


	2. The Consulting Detective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Private Detective Teresa Lisbon begins to investigate the disappearance of Wayne Rigsby at the house of a man named Craig O'Laughlin. Her plans are shaken up by the introduction of Consulting Detective Patrick Jane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know Consulting Detective comes from Sherlock Holmes but the title works really well for Jane in my opinion

Lisbon's heels clacked against the ground as she walked through Sacramento. She was dressed in a blue pencil skirt and matching jacket, which just so happened to be her favorite outfit to solve crimes in. As she approached the house of Craig O'Laughlin, she mentally ran through her procedure. She knocked on the door three times. Five, ten, fifteen seconds went by without a response. Then, right before she was about to knock again, the door opened.   
"Gosh, I'm so sorry." The man muttered, before his eyes locked onto Lisbon. "Well, what might a lovely lady like you be doing on my doorstep?"   
Lisbon restrained herself from rolling her eyes. "My name is detective Teresa Lisbon. Are you Craig O'Laughlin?"  
The man laughed. "In the flesh."  
"Mind if I ask you a few questions?" Lisbon was beginning to feel her fist tightening up. No wonder Grace had a falling out with this guy.   
"Sure thing. You know, you're the second detective to want to talk to me today?" Craig smiled. "I must be pretty popular, eh?"   
Lisbon frowned. "Wait, what do you mean I'm the second detective?"   
"Oh, you didn't know? Well, he's sitting at my kitchen table. We had just been talking about my once-fiancé Grace when you decided to drop by. You wanna meet him?"   
Lisbon nodded. "Yeah, please."  
Craig opened the door and motioned for her to follow him. As they walked through the house, she tried to peek into any of the open rooms to see if their contents could give her any idea as to what this guy was like. A closet, a bathroom, and a small living area were the only doors that were open. Not a lot to go on.  
"Detective Teresa Lisbon, meet Patrick Jane, the other detective." Craig said after they had arrived in the kitchen.   
Lisbon was pleasantly surprised. Detective Jane looked like someone who would be agreeable to work with, and he wasn't too hard on the eyes, so that was a plus.   
"Patrick Jane. Consulting detective." The man held out his hand, smiling.   
"Teresa Lisbon. Private detective." Lisbon shook his hand. She wasn't quite sure of the difference between a consulting detective and a private one, but she doubted that it mattered.  
"Teresa. That's a lovely name." Detective Jane said, and Lisbon was rather taken aback. She didn't expect this other detective, who she assumed to be her competition, to be complimenting her.   
"Well... thank you." She muttered, not quite sure how else to respond.   
Luckily, Jane seemed to notice the tension building between them. "So, to business. Grace Van Pelt hired me to find her missing fiancé, and my findings led me here."  
"Wait, hold on just one second. Grace hired you? She didn't tell me she would be hiring a second detective." This didn't make sense. Why would Grace hire two different detectives?   
"Well, I wouldn't take it personally. She's under a lot of stress, and remembering to tell your detective that you're hiring a second detective clearly wasn't a priority of hers." Jane seemed to suddenly remember that Craig was still in the room. "So! Craig. Back to what I was saying before..."  
Lisbon cut him off. "Hold on. You need to catch me up on whatever you've gotten so far if we're going to be working together."   
Apparently, working with others was not one of detective Jane's strong suits. He was already starting to irritate Lisbon.   
"Oh, right. Well, Mr. O'Laughlin and I were just talking about how his relationship fell apart." Jane managed to make talking about an uncomfortable subject sound cheerful.   
"Lovely." Lisbon muttered.   
"Oh, please, pull up a chair." Craig seemed to get anxious once Jane started talking about his 'relationship'. "Would you like some coffee, tea, anything?"  
"Coffee would be great, thanks." Lisbon said as she sat down.   
"I'll take a tea, if you don't mind." Jane wandered around the room, pausing to look out of the window.   
As Craig walked into the other room to start on the beverages, Jane turned around. "Lisbon. I've heard your name around. You've developed quite a reputation in the private detective community."  
Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Why's that?"   
"Well, for a number of reasons. For one, you're a woman." Jane paused once Lisbon scoffed loudly. "What?"  
"A woman can do anything a man can do." This guy was really starting to get on Lisbon's nerves.   
"Oh, I don't doubt it. I just meant that some people might not take you seriously. I meant no offense."   
They fell silent as Craig walked into the room with tea and coffee. There was one thing that they appeared to mutually agree on, and that was that they didn't trust Craig.


	3. The Police Interrogator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisbon decides to go talk to Kimball Cho, the Sacramento PD interrogator. She ends up running into Detective Jane again, this time literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Patrick Jane is technologically impaired

As Lisbon sat in her office reviewing the information Craig had given her, she started to wonder. Why would Grace hire a second detective, when she could clearly handle the work? Was it that she didn't trust her? Did she think that she couldn't do a good enough job?   
She also found herself thinking about the other detective. Detective Jane. Who did he think he was, taking charge of her case? The man irritated her. He acted like he was the smartest man in the room wherever he went, and whenever he spoke, you could hear the arrogance in his voice. Sure, he had nice hair, and his smile was charming, but she wasn't going to let herself be fazed by his attractiveness. She had a job to do, and she was going to do it right.   
Looking back on her notes, she noticed that Craig had mentioned someone who's name was very familiar to her. Kimball Cho.   
Cho worked for the Sacramento police force and was one of their best interrogators. Lisbon had worked with him many times in the past when Sac-PD's cases had overlapped with hers, and they had developed a close friendship. Cho was hard on the outside, but once you got to know him, he could be very warm and friendly.   
Lisbon decided that her next step would be to talk to Cho and see what he might know about Wayne Rigsby's disappearance. For all she knew, SacPD could have already found him. She threw her notepad and pen into her purse, grabbed her coat, and headed out the door.   
WHAM!  
Lisbon collided head-on with someone who had been about to walk into her office.   
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" She yelled, her hand immediately going up to feel the spot where her forehead had collided with the other person.   
"Sorry. I was just about to ask you if you wanted to come with me, to work on the case!" Said Detective Patrick Jane, also nursing a head wound from their collision.   
"You could've called instead of literally running into me!"   
"I know, I know, it's just that I wanted to talk to you in person. Also, I don't have a phone, so that sort of prevents me from calling you."   
Really? A detective who didn't have a phone? Lisbon knew that it was the end of a depression, but really? A detective needs a phone. "You might want to consider investing in one."   
"Maybe someday." Jane paused, thinking. "So, do you wanna come with me to work on the case? I was just about to head to the police department and talk to Cho."   
Lisbon's eyebrows folded. "Wait, you know Cho too?"  
"I think every detective in Sacramento knows Cho." Jane mused. "So I take it you're in?"  
Lisbon wasn't used to working with a partner, but clearly she'd have to adjust to it, since Detective Jane didn't appear to be getting off of the case anytime soon. "Yeah. I was just about to head there anyway."   
"Great!" Jane clapped his hands together. "Let's go."


	4. The Triceratops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisbon and Jane talk to Cho about what might've happened to Rigsby, and a few sparks begin to fly between the two of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I have done no research on the subject matter of 1930's detectives so if any of this is incorrect that's because I am lazy and didn't do research  
> I did, however, research women's fashion in the 1930's

"So. What brings you here?" Cho asked plainly. That was Cho. Always straight to the point.  
"Do you happen to know a Mr Wayne Rigsby?" Lisbon asked him, sitting in a chair across from his desk.  
"Yeah. Rigsby's a good friend of mine. He works here, and sometimes our shifts overlap. He's a good guy." Cho's eyes followed Jane as he wandered around Cho's office.  
"Now, tell me, Cho, if you could be any dinosaur, what would you be?" Jane asked as he peered into a file cabinet.  
Lisbon was startled by his choice of question. He had asked Craig some odd things, but dinosaurs? He must've been completely insane.  
"Triceratops." Cho could see that Lisbon was confused. "I know how Jane works. He asks you weird questions, and expects you not to wonder why he's doing it. Just roll with it and you'll do fine."  
Lisbon was skeptical, but realized that asking questions would likely get her nowhere. "Alright, and when was the last time you saw Rigsby?"  
Cho thought for a moment. "A few days ago. Friday, maybe. I asked him if he wanted to go out for a couple of beers and he said no, he had to go home to his fiancé."  
Lisbon jotted it down on her notepad. "Alright, and did he seem scared? Was he acting any different?"  
Cho shook his head. "No. If anything, he was happy. The date of his wedding is getting closer, and he and his fiancé are real excited to get married."  
"Interesting. So you're sure Rigsby isn't the type of guy to just run off on his wife?" Jane asked.  
"No. Wayne's nothing if not loyal." Cho checked the clock on the wall. "Listen, I have to go, but if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to come back."  
Lisbon nodded. "See you later, Cho."  
"Bowling still on for Tuesday?" Jane said as Cho was about to walk out. Lisbon started to wonder how long Jane and Cho had actually known each other.  
"Hell yes. I'm gonna beat you this time." And with that, Cho was gone.  
"This is starting to look like a kidnapping more and more." Lisbon said as she glanced over her notes.  
"I don't doubt it. And I may know who our kidnapper is, alongside where Rigsby is being kept."  
"Wait, how on earth could you know that already?" Lisbon was stunned. She barely even knew what the crime was, much less who did it and where.  
"That, dear Lisbon, is the difference between a private detective and a consulting detective." Jane flashed a cheeky smile, infuriating Lisbon.  
"Well, if you know who it is, then why don't you tell me?" Lisbon could feel anger welling up inside of her. This was why she worked alone.  
"I think you know who it is." Jane's eyes locked with Lisbon's. She could feel her heart rate speed up, but she wasn't quite sure why. She just assumed it was her anger, but love and anger are very similar emotions.


	5. The Victim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisbon and Jane decide to head back to Craig O'Laughlin's house to talk to him again, but their plans are interrupted by someone surprising.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter isn't as good but I'm not great at fics with more than one chapter so I think I'm doing pretty well with this one overall

Lisbon knew that Craig O'Laughlin was the kidnapper, but she didn't know how to prove it. There was no evidence outside of her gut feeling. Oh, and Jane's vague input, which provided little to no help.   
She decided that her best course of action was to talk to Craig again and see if he wanted to change his statement. Plus, she could check out some of those closed doors in his house.   
As she walked along the street towards Craig's house, she heard footsteps behind her.   
"Hey! Detective Lisbon!" Jane's voice came up behind her.   
"Hello, Jane." Lisbon rolled her eyes. Of course he was here. Why wouldn't he be.   
"I assume you're heading to Craig O'Laughlin's house?" He said, panting slightly.   
"Yep. Figured I should question him again, see if he wanted to change anything about his statement." Lisbon replied.   
"Well, I'll come along with you. Two heads are better than one!" Jane flashed his signature cocky smile that made Lisbon's heart race.   
"Fine. Just try to stay professional." Lisbon gave a little sigh. Working with Jane was exasperating.   
Jane raised an eyebrow. "Lisbon, I'm always a professional!"   
Lisbon scoffed. "Sure, Jane. Keep telling yourself that."  
"You don't like me, do you, Teresa?"   
Lisbon was surprised by the question. "Well, you did butt in on my case, which I clearly could've handled by myself."  
Jane scratched his head. "No, that's not the reason. Why don't you like me? And don't try to lie, because I can tell when you're lying."   
Lisbon's face folded into a scowl. "Well, first of all, you're cocky, arrogant, and think you know everything. Plus..."  
She was cut off by the sight of someone running down the street, bolting in their direction.   
"Help! Oh, god, you need to help me." The man stopped in front of Jane and Lisbon, panting and sweating. "There's a guy back there, Craig, he just had me locked up in his basement."   
"Wait, what?" Lisbon pulled out her notebook. "I want you to tell me exactly what happened. What's your name?"   
"My name's Wayne. Wayne Rigsby. A man named Craig O'Laughlin kept me locked up in his basement for the past few days, and for the life of me I don't know why." So this was Wayne Rigsby. That solved one part of the problem.   
"Alright, and how did you escape?"   
"He was using ropes to tie me up in his basement. I managed to get them loose enough to escape." Wayne ran his hands through his hair. "I was lucky to get out alive. The guy's a psychopath."  
Lisbon nodded. "Alright, well, I'm glad to see you're safe. I'm Teresa Lisbon, and this is Patrick Jane. Your fiancé, Grace, hired me and my... colleague here to try to find you." She held out a hand.   
Wayne shook her hand. "Well, thank you. Now what're you gonna do?"  
Lisbon smiled. "Well, now we're gonna catch this bastard."


	6. The Fireball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Lisbon attempt to talk to O'Laughlin, and receive a fiery response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha see what I did there with the summary

Lisbon and Jane ran side by side up to Craig O'Laughlin's house. As she banged her fist on the door, Lisbon kept one hand on her gun. Something in her gut told her that this was not going to end well.   
"Mr. O'Laughlin! Open up!" Lisbon yelled, her fist practically making a dent in the door.   
"He's not going to open the door, Lisbon." Jane said. Lisbon noticed that he didn't have a gun. Why didn't he have a gun? He was a detective, for god's sake. A detective needs a gun!   
"Then what do you plan on doing, Jane?" She asked, exasperated.   
Jane reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of metal which he then proceeded to stick into the keyhole on the door. He shifted it around a bit, and then Lisbon heard a click, and the door opened. Jane turned to her and gave her his signature cocky smile, and she couldn't help but smile back.   
But now it was go time. Lisbon pulled out her gun and ran into the house. "Mr. O'Laughlin! We're coming in!"   
She heard shuffling coming from deeper within the house, and ran to see what it was. The faint scent of gasoline wafted through the house, but Lisbon didn't think anything of it. Jane followed her throughout the house from a distance, clearly letting Lisbon take charge of the situation.   
The noise came from behind a door, which also was locked. She didn't have time for Jane's lockpicking magic, so she used her skill for opening doors: brute force. The door flew back, revealing Craig standing in the dark, holding a lit match.   
"You're too late, detectives!" He screeched like a madman. "I'm gonna burn this place to the ground, and you're going with me!"   
Fear struck Lisbon, but she held her ground. "Put the match out, O'Laughlin, and everyone can get out of this unharmed!" She aimed her gun at him, but she knew that if she fired, the sparks would ignite the whole house.   
An evil sneer crossed his face. "Tiger, tiger." He said, before dropping the match.   
Time slowed to a crawl. Lisbon turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could, right behind Jane. A fireball ballooned behind them, almost catching their backs......  
Lisbon had reached the doorway outside, and jumped with all her might. She slammed into Jane, and the both of them fell into the street in front of the house. Heat radiated from the house, with flames consuming everything within. People walking past began to scream, and one person ran off in the direction of the fire station.   
Lisbon then remembered that she was still laying on top of Jane. Rolling onto her back, she took a few long breaths.   
"You alright, Teresa?" Jane asked, also laying awkwardly on the ground.   
"Yeah, I'm fine, Patrick." She replied, heart racing.   
He held out a hand, and she took it. His palms were warm and comforting, and her hand fit perfectly in his. The moment was simply perfect, and they laid in silence, enjoying each other's company.   
But eventually they did have to get up and tell the police about what happened. And tell Grace that her fiancé was alive and well. So they headed to the police station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get it  
> Fiery response  
> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> This chapter was fun to write I'm not gonna lie  
> I should write more chapters of them risking their lives and then holding hands


	7. The Serial Killer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This will be the second to last chapter. Jane, Lisbon, and Cho confer about the incident with Craig O'Laughlin, and realize just how serious this is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I can't believe it's almost over. I might make it into a series honestly I just love the whole 1930's detective au I think it works pretty well and I just love writing these characters

"He did what?" Cho asked, looking the two detectives up and down. Lisbon realized that they probably looked like a slightly charred disaster, and that her hair probably looked like death.   
"I know, it sounds insane. And I'm still puzzled about the last thing he said." Lisbon mused. "'Tiger, tiger.' What could it mean?"   
Jane's fingers rapped on his chair. "I think I know." He fell silent.   
"Care to enlighten us, Jane?" Lisbon asked him. She could tell by his expression that he was seriously concerned about something, but it was hard to read any further than that. If nothing else, Jane was good at hiding his emotions.   
"It means that Craig was connected to Red John, the serial killer who murdered my wife and child."   
The room fell silent. Everyone remembered when Red John terrorized Northern California, leaving over a dozen bodies in his wake. Lisbon didn't realize that Jane's wife and child were two of the victims. She knew that he and the serial killer had some sort of connection, but didn't know that it was this serious.   
"My god, Jane, I didn't realize." Lisbon finally spoke. This was getting much deeper than they ever expected.   
Jane nodded and said nothing.   
"And now we know that he's willing to target anyone, even cops like Wayne." Cho muttered. "We'll need to go over all of the evidence at O'Laughlin's house, or what's left of it."   
Lisbon nodded. "I'll offer whatever help I can."   
Cho stood up. "Thanks. We'll need all hands on deck for this one. I'll go get whatever files we have on Red John, and we'll see if it gives us any leads." Cho looked towards Jane. "Jane, you know more about Red John than just about anyone else. I can understand if you don't want to be on the case, but if you want to help, Sacramento P.D. could use your expertise."   
"I'll help. But if I help, we're going to have to do this my way." Jane's voice grew grave. "Red John is mine, and I'm going to be the one who catches him."   
"Whatever you need, we can get it." Cho held out a hand. "You'll be a real asset to the force."   
Jane stood up and shook Cho's hand. Then he turned to Lisbon.   
"Lisbon, I want you to help me. You're an excellent detective, and I think we'd work well together." Jane smiled a little, and Lisbon felt her heart flutter a little.   
"Sure, Jane." Lisbon said. "Let's catch this bastard."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter is going to be an epilogue of sorts but trust me it's gonna be pretty good


	8. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months after the effects of Craig O'Laughlin blowing himself up, Lisbon, Jane, and the Sacramento Police still have nothing on Red John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but I've been in kind of a slump lately so it's ok considering. This chapter is a little unnecessary, but I live for jisbon

THREE MONTHS LATER:

Lisbon walked alone along the streets of Sacramento. Their search for Red John had proved itself to be tedious, and they didn't know anything more now than they did three months ago. She had come to realize that unless Red John killed again, they wouldn't be able to get any new information on him. Even Jane was starting to lose confidence in their ability to find him.   
Lisbon was about to pop her key into the door of her detective agency when she realized the door was already open a crack. Pulling out her gun, she slowly and quietly pushed the door open, revealing Jane sitting in a chair, flipping a paperclip around in his hand.   
"Ah, Lisbon. I was wondering when you'd get back." Jane said.   
"So you decided to break into my office. Great." Lisbon's voice was filled with sarcasm, but she was secretly happy to see him. She then remembered that she was still holding her gun, so she shoved it back into her bag.   
"Lisbon, I was wondering... I wanted to know... if you... wanted to..." His voice trailed off.   
"Wanted to what, Jane?" Lisbon then realized that Jane had been blushing profusely. He could hide many of his emotions, but he could not hide that.   
"If you wanted to go out to dinner or something with me sometime." Jane said, and Lisbon was stunned. She never knew that Jane liked her in the way that she liked him, probably because he constantly bottled up his emotions.   
"Sure, I'd love to." Lisbon smiled, and Jane seemed to be relieved.   
"Oh, thank goodness. You don't know how long it took me to get up the courage to ask you." Jane said, smiling back. "So, uh, do you wanna go to a restaurant? I may have already gotten us a reservation at one for about an hour from now."   
"Sure, Patrick. Just let me get ready." Lisbon kept a secret stash of makeup in her desk, so while Jane went and got his car she quickly redid her makeup.   
While she waited for him, her heart raced. Sure, she and Jane were very different people, but despite their differences, they had become great friends, and now they were finally taking it to the next step. And Lisbon was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over, isn't it?  
> Hehehe   
> But seriously, I really loved writing this. And I think I did pretty well, considering that it's the first time I've ever finished writing a multi-chapter fanfic. I'd like to thank everyone who's read this or left kudos, your support means the world to me.   
> Comment if you think there's anything I could improve, or if you wanna see more 1930's detective au for The Mentalist! Your input is appreciated.


End file.
